Voices of Sandy: 'Now we're back, and everybody's happy'

Dec. 30, 2012

Bay Head School fourth-grader Amanda Lewis, 9, makes sure other students know where they're going on their first day back to school. Students attended Antrim School in Point Pleasant Beach for the past month due to superstorm Sandy damage to their school building. / Peter Ackerman/Staff Photographer

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As a member of the safety patrol at Bay Head School, Amanda Lewis, 9, wears her belt and badge with pride.

Amanda takes her duties seriously. When the younger kids get lost in the hallway, she steers them in the right direction. If a boy is running too fast on the sidewalk, she’ll slow him down before he gets hurt.

Even the best safety patrol officer in the world, however, could not protect the 112-year-old Bay Head School from superstorm Sandy. The flood damage to the building’s lower level was so severe, Amanda and her schoolmates had to attend an elementary school in nearby Point Pleasant Beach for four weeks until it was safe for them to return.

On their first day back, Amanda was there to greet them at the front door.

“Now we’re back, and everybody’s happy,” she said.

ONLINE

Hear Lewis tell her story in “Voices of Sandy,” an occasional series giving voice to victims of the superstorm, at APP.com and our other digital platforms.